The Struggle of Separating

Narendra Modi. Benjamin Netanyahu. Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. These individuals all have power over their ever-so-faithful countries because of the importance their faiths have on the people surrounding them. In these countries Hindus, Jews and Muslims are a majority of the population, respectively and their policies and rulings coincide with the majority of its people. Some of these countries are secular, democratic states and others are monarchies with official religious practices and customs, but despite specific intentions to keep religion and politics separate, numbers display that people are seeking leaders who have a religious faith. Even in American government, people like John McCain, Jimmy Carter and Mitt Romney were known for their dedication to their faiths and many people supported these people because they believed their actions would represent their beliefs on a national scale. With the increase in the religiosity of Americans, people are looking to elect people who are primarily Christian so that these people can fulfill their personal beliefs on a larger scale, making politicians a form of religious leaders.

Moving closer to the United States, a clause from Article XI of the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli asserts what many American citizens are taught about the United States from a young age, “The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion,” the separation between church and state is maintained in that sentence that christianity is not meant to have an impact on how the country is run. The Treaty of Tripoli acts as a past text in which one can view how the power of church is affecting modern politics. However, in the present, there are many instances where people can see the influence of christianity in normal partisan politics in the United States. Moreover, around the world, religion can be interpreted as the primary influence on people in terms of their motives when in power. This is because religion is very similar to politics in the simplest terms, a community gathers together because they have similar ideologies. Religion shapes individuals choices from who they choose to marry, to the clothes they feel compelled to wear, all the way down to the food they eat. Therefore, it is only natural that religious beliefs have a great influence on politics. However, this tendency requires political leaders to act more as religious leaders, even though they are not officially given the authority by a religious body, in the space of American politics.

The growing religiosity of the American public is requiring leadership that will alter political agendas in order to maintain their faiths and what is required of them from that standpoint. Religious nationalism is manifesting and spreading across the world faster than one can truly imagine. Countries like India have elected leaders whose beliefs and rulings coincide with the teachings of the majority religion in a country, or enhance the experiences of the followers of a certain religion. In the United States, 65% of Americans have said that religion is an important facet of their daily lives and a study done by the Pew Research Center said half of American adults would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate that does not believe in God. Additionally, from data collected during the 2018 midterm elections, white, born-again/Evangelical Christians voted primarily republican and have been doing so during every election year since 2006.

A prime example of politicians being godly or of God’s will is the 2016 election of Donald Trump. According to a scholarly article from UChicago, 81% of white Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The primary concerns of these voters were not typical “hot-button” issues, such as abortion rights and gay marriage rights, that are discussed and debated along religious lines, but rather concerns such as improving the economy, national security and the personal character of the presidential candidate were the primary issues people were voting on. Much like a religious leader, Trump offered support and a solution to a group of people that was incredibly impacted by situations that put hardships on many families in the United States. Politicians are now the way in which people are serving those in need because they can create tangible solutions to problems that were thought to only be solved by God himself.This research makes it evident that politics becoming the way people can fulfill their destinies of protecting the public and serving the public. Their power comes from masses of people, however their influence is of a greater sphere.

In an article published on Billy Graham’s website, the author says that humans simply cannot separate religion and politics because everyone is religious in a sense that not everyone worships a supernatural deity, however everyone has a drive that they worship such as money, power or success. Additionally, for many religious people their private selves and their public selves are not two separate entities and their day-to-day actions and beliefs are rooted in their faith. This means that politicians are essentially the ones leading the pathway for religious practices to thrive in a modern society. In the article, it states that politics and public life are ways in which individuals can express their spirituality and bear witness to their holy Gospel.  They elect people that have Chrisitian backgrounds that will outwardly say that they are believers of God. By using this sort of rhetoric, readers of the site are led to believe that it is part of their duty to God to take their religion and beliefs into account even when doing something such as voting.

In everyday life, religion is sprinkled as an added embellishment of American politics and government. The Pledge of Allegiance and the use of the Bible for official testimonies or swear-ins are where we can see chrisitanity as a federally mandated practice. However, it is in the most important moments, when tragic events occur, individuals look to politicians almost as they do to religious leaders, for some sort of answer or response. What does the public usually hear from them? “Thoughts and prayers”. Usually the first thing to ever come out of a politician’s mouth when they are publically addressing a tragedy. A message to the extent of “I am deeply saddened by this event and am horrified that someone/something could do this to people.Sending my thoughts and prayers your way” is what is being said every time an event strikes. In a secular country with a mission stated constitutionally to separate church and state, that statement is not-so-temporal and contradictory to the foundation of the country. Tweets are easy means in which members of the political sphere can express their opinions and engage with their constituents while also expressing their religious beliefs.

According to a scholarly article from Boston University, the rise of the religious right has meant that it is impossible to elect a president without knowing they have some sort of commitment to religion. Since the 1960’s once the debate about abortion became a larger point of contention and other “religious freedoms,” were beginning to be taken away, Evangelicals began supporting the campaigns of Republicans such as Ronald Reagan and the Bush’s.

There is also a mentality within American politics that God intended for political leaders to be in power, like it was a divine plan. In early February 2019, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, “I think God calls all of us to full different roles at different times. And I think he wanted Donald Trump to become president and that’s why he’s there.” Moreover, in a 2017 survey by Public Religion Research Institute, 57% of Americans said that God played a “major role” in the 2016 presidential election. In a book titled “God and Donald Trump” the author Stephen Strang even says that Evangelicals had been praying for deliverance from an “overbearing, hostile (and democratic) federal government. This ideology or thought process goes with the trend of elections following the will of God. Followers really did believe that God answered their prayers for the unlikely to occur and Donald Trump to be elected president. Many people believed that through God’s power, Trump was elected president and therefore because God’s sovereignty made it happen, God also approved of Trump’s leadership.

The election of Donald Trump, for many Evangelicals in the United States, meant that religious freedoms would be lessened. Many believe that politicians are essentially the ones leading the pathway for religious practices to thrive in a modern society. Political leaders deliver speeches or testimonies to invoke thought from those listening. They create policies that correlate with Christian ideals. For example, Trump’s Supreme Court appointments deliver the Christian population their wish to restrict abortion rights. Politicians such as Rick Santorum have even publicly discussed their faith and how it has shaped them in interviews and ads and have said that their faith is what guides them through being a public servant. More than that, this medium of displaying a person’s faith to the world is telling that faith has become more of a talking point when electing politicians.

It is evident that Christianity has had an impact on how the function of politics and the influence it has in America. Additionally, similar to how this prominent religious tradition in the United States has had an immense influence, prominent religions in other countries have a large impact on the laws, customs and platforms that politicians around the world advocate for. Usually on behalf of the beliefs of the majority of the population or just the demand of the population, politicians use religion to invoke the feeling within people that those individuals were chosen by God to lead their countries, making their role in society divine.

Additional Works Cited

Barber, N. (2012, September 20). Why Religion Rules American Politics. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-religion-rules-americ_b_1690433

Butters, J. (2015). Why America Can’t Separate Religion & Politics and what that means for the 2016 Elections. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/fall15/america/

Haberman, Clyde. “Religion and Right-Wing Politics: How Evangelicals Reshaped Elections.” The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2018.

Pew Research Center. (2019, March 18). Religion and U.S. Politics. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/religion-and-politics/

Quinn, C. G. (2016, June 27). Understanding the Role of Religion in American Politics. Retrieved from https://www.polisci.washington.edu/news/2016/06/27/understanding-role-religion-american-politics

Sciupac, E. P., & Smith, G. A. (2018, November 7). How religious groups voted in the midterm elections. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/11/07/how-religious-groups-voted-in-the-midterm-elections/